Carpet-sweeper



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AUGUSTUS C. CAREY, OF IPSWICH, MASSACHUSETTS.

CARPET-SWEEPER.

Specication of Letters Patent No. 21,815, dated October 19, 1858.

To all lwhom fit may concern:

Be it known that I, AUGUSTUS C. CAREY, of Ipswich, in the county ofEssex and State of h'lassachusetts, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Carpet-Sweeping Machines, of which the following is afull, clear, and exactdescription, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, making part of this specification, in .vhichFigure 1 is a view of my i1npro.'ed carpet sweeper. Fig. 2 alongitudinal vertical section through the same. Fig. 3 detail to bereferred to.

I am aware that a revolving brush driven by the carrying wheels of themachine has been used for a street sweeping machine and also that such abrush has been used in connection with a suitable receptacle for thedust, as a carpet sweeper; the box containing the brush and dustreceiver, being pushed over the carpet to collecti the dust. But thereare certain requisites in a carpet sweeping machine which I believe havenot been heretofore attained. Some of the most important of these are;that it shall sweep up close to the mop-board at the sides of the room;that the box may be thrustinto corners, and out of the way places (asaround the fire-place, and behind articles of furniture), and the brushbe there operated by hand, when it would not be convenient to obtain therequired revolutions'of the brush by pushing along the box; and that themachine shall be cheap and durable, and not liable to be clogged bythreads and similar things, which it collects in passing over thecarpet. These desired ends have been obtained in my improved carpetsweeper, which I will now proceed to describe in such a manner thatothers skilled in the art may understand and use my invention.

In the drawings A is the box in suitable bearings in the sides of whichrun the journals of a wooden roll B which extend across the inside ofthe box. A swiveling roll or caster C is placed at the back end of thebox; this caster and the roll B support the box as it is pushed alongover the carpet' by the handle D attached to the top of the box. Astandard E rising from the top of the box, carries a double pulley, thesmaller portion (L of which carries in its groove a cord 7) which alsorests in a groove (dotted in Fig. Q) in the roll B; the larger port-ioncl of the pulley carries in its groove another cord c which rests in agroove e in the brush shaft F. T he portion (l of the double pulley hasattached to it a handle by means of which it may be turned by hand. Thedust pan G (in section Fic: 2) occupies a portion of the box A in frontof the roll B; it is made of sheet tin and consists of a bottom g, thefront edge of which at 4 rests on the carpet when the machine is beingpushed along, a back it which extends up to the top of the box A, andtwo side pieces z' which press out against the inner sides of the box Aand prevent the dust from passing outof the dust pan. with a strip 5soldered to the bottom near its front edge. this strip extends acrossthe front part of the bottom g, and is inclined backward at an angle tothe bottoni as shown in Fig. 2. It prevents the dirt which has beenswept by the revolving brush up over the edge of the dust pan, fromagain falling out, and the duct is collected and heaped up in the pan asthe sweeping proceeds.

The bottom g is turned up as shown at 6 (Fig. l), this part lapping overthe sides of the box A; this however would render the bottom too stiff,and prevent the front edge of it from springing up and down and pressingon the carpet, to prevent this undue rigidity of the bottom g' the sides(i are cut down, as seen at 7 (Fig. 1).

The pan Gr is held in place in the box A by spring` staples m, one oneach side, in the lower edge of the sides of the box. The wooden sidesof the box A. each terminates at the front in a piece of sheet metal l,which is joined on to the wooden side at 8: this allows the brush to bebrought out nearer to the line of the outside of the side of the boxthan could be done if the thick wooden side of the box were continuedout to the front.

The brush shaft F is supported in the following manner: To each side ofthe box A at g is pivoted a metal arm H which has at its outer end a pina (dotted in Fig. l) that passes through a slot in the piece Z andenters the end of the shaft F: a screw 10 passing through a slot o inthe arm H secures the arm in position. This arrangement allows the brushshaft F to be lowered as the brush is worn away by use. As each row ofbristles p in the brush is made continuous for the whole length of theshaft F the The bottom g is furnished cord 0 as it revolves the brushwould be liable to press down the bristles into the groove e; to preventthis I employ a guard I (Fig. 3) of bent metal which is attached to theinside of the top of the boX A near the hole through which the cord 0passes;

it is so formed and placed with respect to the groove e, that its sides,which flare out on each side of the path of the cord o serve to deflectthe bristles as the brush revolves, until they have passed th cord c,when they again close in and form a continuous line. An eXtra bunch ofbristles r is inserted between each row ZJ, at the ends of the shaft F;these revolve in close contact with the piece Z on each side of thebox-so that as the box is pushed along near the sides of the room thecarpet may be swept close up to the mop-board.

This machine is operated as follows: It is pushed in the direction ofits arrow, over the carpet to be swept, by the handle D, and as thebrush is revolved rapidly (in the direction of its arrow Fig. 2) incontact with the carpet, the dust is brushed up over the front edge 4 ofthe dust pan Gr and is collected in it. The dust pan may be afterwardremoved by simply slipping it out from the staples m and the dust beremoved from it.

Vhen it is required to sweep around heavy furniture, or in out of theway places where it is not convenient to give the brush the requiredspeed by pushing the boX A along, the brush may be operatedindependently of the movement of the box, by slipping the cord 5 offfrom the pulley a, and

revolving the brush with the required speed by means of the handle f;the position of the brush at the extreme front'of the box A enabling theperson operating the machine to sweep out any place that is large enoughto admit the front end of the boX.

By making the bearings of the shaft F adjustable as before stated, thebrush may be used until the bristles or other articles of which thebrush may be made are worn down so short as to be useless.

By dispensing with all cog wheels'I avoid a considerable portion of thenoise and rattle of the machinery when in operation, and n also therebyconsiderably reduce the cost of its manufacture.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent isl.Placing the revolving l'brush at the eX- treme front of the boX A, andhanging it in adjustable bearings H in the manner substantially as setforth.

2. I claim the deflector I operating substantially as described for thepurpose specified.

3. I claim'the combination of the revolving brush, the double pulleya-b, or its equivalent, and the roll B when so arranged that the brushmay be disconnected from the roll B, and be operated by hand,substantially in the manner and for the purpose

